What do all these things have in common?
- Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat is published.
- Gallon of milk: $0.97
- First-class stamp: $0.03
- Gallon of gas: $0.23
John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the very first time, as teenagers, three years before forming the Beatles.
-
The Marketing Research Association (MRA) was established
The year 1957.
50 years have passed since the MRA was incorporated and Alan Russell was the first MRA president. The MRA is now 50 years old and has almost 3000 members……WOW!
Come June 6-8, San Francisco is the place to be…
- Shelley Zalis, Michelle Adams, Bob Lederer, Beth Teehan and David Ashley are part of the fantastic presentation schedule.
- The 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner/Dance is Wednesday night and promises to be a night to remember.
- There are plenty of opportunities to network, make new friends and establish new industry contacts.
- All of this and PRC credit for attending sessions.
Over 700 people have signed up causing the MRA to increase the room block no less than 4 times! 
In addition, Friday morning, the new MRA board–your board–will be installed!
Are you planning on attending? I look forward to your comments and seeing if you share in my excitement.
I hope to see you there.
MD
Clearly this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. A nice cold 20 ounce coke, some popcorn, a comfortable chair and a movie… Even better…a movie about baseball! I tried to pick 10 baseball movies that people might consider were the best ever.
Pride of the Yankees
Field of Dreams
Yes we all want to motivate people. Yes we all want people to be successful and create a win/win situation for staff, clients and the company. In the past, I have been an advocate of sales contests. I truly believe that when done the right way, they can motivate behavior.
Also at the meeting was Dan Woods, Jensen’s marketing rep, who is responsible for creating the sales team’s collateral, presentation materials, and proposals. Strangely, over the course of the next month after the meeting, his performance declined, and he was less social and less available to help the salespeople than he had been. His lunch hours were longer and his workdays got shorter. Werner noticed the change and asked Woods into her office to discuss the situation.
We have had our little Yorkshire Terrier for over a year and he has done a lot of things but doesn’t have a frequent flyer card because he hasn’t flown on a plane…yet. We have discussed taking him to the city he was named after, but it just hasn’t been the right time. Traveling with three little ones is challenging enough. Why make my life more difficult?
Familiarize your pet with its carrier before leaving home, and make sure the pet is wearing tags or is micro chipped.
I can recall going on a cruise a few years ago with my family and frankly not looking forward to it for a few reasons. The main one was that you had a better chance of winning the lottery than getting a deck chair. I saw firsthand that people actually woke up at 5:00am to get the best spots on the boat. Next to the pool, bar, or wherever else they deemed as “the spot”.
“We have 1,800 pool chairs at the hotel, but everyone wants the same 200,” says Matthew Hart, general manager of the Grand Wailea Resort in Maui. “It got to be refereeing adults.”
The Westin Maui has started sending attendants to tag chairs left unoccupied. Once tagged, the attendant waits half an hour, and if the guests have not returned, the belongings are bagged and kept at the towel desk for pickup.
As most of you know I am a sports fan – ok a big sports fan. Even if you didn’t know that, you could tell by looking at my license plate or walking into my office.
That is a beautiful house – I wonder who lives there and how much it’s worth?
I wish I had known about this when I was looking for a house in the Dallas area. It is a very good tool for evaluating neighborhoods, a specific house and it does a nice job with an aerial view. Basically what happens is you enter an address of a home and within a few seconds you will have a view of that house and the neighborhood – with all the pricing information. In addition, you can scroll in any direction and new homes and prices come up as you move your mouse.
Recently I booked a trip for a family vacation. This can be a little bit of a challenge with three little ones under the age of six. We need to have a flight that is manageable (under five hours) for sure – preferably a water vacation with lots of beach and sand to play in and a casual atmosphere where we can walk through the lobby with a wet dripping bathing suit. A few restaurants and an ice cream shop is a huge bonus.
“Heaven on Earth” — Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida 
So many more people are working out of their house. Why? Easy! Flexibility for both the employee and the employer. I had a SOHO (small office home office) for over 8 years. I will admit working out of the house isn’t for everyone. I have a number of friends like Gary, Mike and Sharon that it might work for but I would bet against it for a number of reasons.
For me I always feel great and that I have accomplished a lot if I get off to a quick start. They say that the first 30 seconds are very important during a presentation. Well for me the first 30 minutes sets the tone for my day.
